Heart to Heart

How do you repay the cost of your life?

A young orphan boy, Yared Worde lived a hand-to-mouth existence on the streets of Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia. Without any family to care for him, he managed to survive – just barely – by scrounging for food. Finally he went to live in an orphanage but there at the age of 12 he became very ill. At that bleak moment, Yared's difficult life took a miraculous turn.

A kind Irish nurse who worked in the orphanage took care of him and brought him to a doctor who diagnosed his rheumatic heart disease. This doctor referred him to an organization in Israel called Save a Child's Heart. Flown to the Wolfson Medical Center in Holon, young Yared underwent heart surgery and was granted a new lease on life.

Save a Child's Heart (SACH) was created through the dedication of the late Dr. Amram (Ami) Cohen. After immigrating to Israel from the United States in 1992, this first-rate surgeon joined the staff of the Wolfson Medical Center and served as the Deputy Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery and Head of Pediatric Cardiac Surgery.

In 1995 an Ethiopian doctor, referred by a mutual friend at the University of Massachusetts, contacted Dr. Cohen. He requested Dr. Cohen's help for two children in desperate need of heart surgery. Since that beginning, SACH has mended the hearts of more than 2,500 children from many countries around the world. All the children are given the best medical treatment no matter their race, color, gender, religion, or financial situation.

Yared Worde on his recent visit to the
hospital in Israel where his life was saved.

Yared asked himself, how does one repay the cost of one's life? His answer: by emulating his benefactor's kindness to others. So Yared Worde returned to Ethiopia to help orphans like him have a better future. Today he is the Director of the "Saint Yared School" in Addis Abba, a school combating poverty by providing education to the city's most desperately poor children. Yared turned down a full scholarship to an American university for a Master's Degree because he felt it is more important that he remain in Ethiopia, run the school and give as many indigent children as possible the chance for a future through education.

Two years ago Yared met a very ill young orphan named Tamru who was in desperate need of life-saving heart surgery. He had been sent to the hospital in Addis Abba from his orphanage in North Ethiopia. Yared immediately contacted Save a Child's Heart for assistance. Until Tamru was well enough to fly to Israel to undergo open heart surgery, Yared personally took care of the boy. When Tamru returned to Ethiopia after his successful surgery at the Wolfson Hospital, Yared took him into his own home to give him the necessary follow up care.

In his recent return visit to Israel, Yared met children from Ethiopia, Angola, Zanzibar, Uganda, Moldova, the Palestinian Authority and Iraq, all brought to Israel to undergo life-saving heart surgery. Sharing his own experiences, he gave them hope and encouragement. In turn, seeing these children of all backgrounds playing together brought him joy. Yared also met with the doctors who had treated him 13 years ago.

Dr. Ami Cohen zt'l
and his patients

Sadly, Dr. Ami Cohen was no longer among them. He died in a tragic accident while climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa in 2001. This year marks the 10th anniversary of his death which left a deep void in the hearts of all whose lives he touched. Still, his project Save a Child's Heart continues to thrive, transcending political divisions and creating warm understanding between Israel and the world. Dr. Cohen lives on in another way as well. Yared and his wife Netsanet were recently blessed with a baby girl. In tribute, they chose to name their daughter Anna Ami.

Featured at Aish.com:

About the Author

Menucha Chana Levin is the author of four novels 'The Youngest Bride', 'The Castle Builders', 'A Family for Frayda' and 'Midnight Music'. She has lived in Jerusalem with her family for over twenty years.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 6

(6)
Anonymous,
March 4, 2012 4:12 PM

Mi i'amcha Yisrael

Again we see that the Jewish people are "Rachmanim benei Rachmanim"
So proud to be a Jew.

(5)
Shari,
December 22, 2011 5:06 AM

A story of change

As usual, Menucha, this is a great piece. Stories like this change public opinion. You can really see the heart of the people involved. You could write a book on people like this. It puts a whole new face on the relationship of Israel to countries that could use a hand. Love, Shari

(4)
dia,
December 15, 2011 7:41 PM

save a heart

This is a most touching life story and contributes to restoration of world and peace. Dr. Cohen and the other participents doctor, nurse, caregiver, benefactor, recipient, or other are all contributers......this leaves me with a smile.....thank you

(3)
Shira,
December 14, 2011 3:22 AM

A Worde of inspiration

This is such a lovely story. What a shame Dr. Cohen isn't around to "shep nachas". It's a wonderful way to show how one act of kindness can lead to so many more. Truly an inspiration. I wish Yared and his family many years of success in all their endeavors and that their work has a ripple effect and many more are inspired to follow in their footsteps. Thanks from the heart, Shira

(2)
Sam Omekara,
December 11, 2011 4:00 PM

Blessings from above.

Reading this story only gives us a glimpse of the blessings from heaven unto men, through the human vessels. It is the ' Divine Touch'.

(1)
ruth housman,
December 11, 2011 2:40 PM

The Worde: about this article

I can only quote from a popular song in responding to an article truly, about HEART: Don't you know, the word is LOVE? (The Beatles).

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!